'''ddrescue''' is a raw disk imaging tool that "copies data from one file or block device to another, trying hard to rescue data in case of read errors." The application is developed as part of the GNU project and has written with UNIX/Linux in mind.

'''ddrescue''' is a raw disk imaging tool that "copies data from one file or block device to another, trying hard to rescue data in case of read errors." The application is developed as part of the GNU project and has written with UNIX/Linux in mind.

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'''ddrescue''' and '''dd_rescue''' are completely different programs which share no development between them. The two projects are not related in any way except that they both attempt to enhance the standard [[dd]] tool and coincidentally chose similar names for their new programs.

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'''ddrescue''' and '''[[dd_rescue]]''' are completely different programs which share no development between them. The two projects are not related in any way except that they both attempt to enhance the standard [[dd]] tool and coincidentally chose similar names for their new programs.

From the [[ddrescue]] info pages:

From the [[ddrescue]] info pages:

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Automatic merging of backups: If you have two or more damaged copies of a file, cdrom, etc, and run ddrescue on all of them, one at a time, with the same output file, you will probably obtain a complete and error-free file. This is so because the probability of having damaged areas at the same places on different input files is very low. Using

Automatic merging of backups: If you have two or more damaged copies of a file, cdrom, etc, and run ddrescue on all of them, one at a time, with the same output file, you will probably obtain a complete and error-free file. This is so because the probability of having damaged areas at the same places on different input files is very low. Using

the logfile, only the needed blocks are read from the second and successive copies.

the logfile, only the needed blocks are read from the second and successive copies.

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</blockquote>

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== Installation ==

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=== Bootable CD ===

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ddrescue is available on bootable rescue cds such as SystemRescueCd http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page.

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=== Debian and Ubuntu ===

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The package 'ddrescue' in Debian and Ubuntu is actually [[dd_rescue]], another dd-like program which does not maintain a recovery log. The correct package is gddrescue.

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Debian

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<blockquote>

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aptitude install gddrescue

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</blockquote>

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Ubuntu

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<blockquote>

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sudo apt-get install gddrescue

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</blockquote>

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=== Gentoo ===

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<blockquote>

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emerge ddrescue

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</blockquote>

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== Partition recovery ==

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=== Kernel 2.6.3+ & ddrescue 1.4+ ===

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'ddrescue --direct' will open the input with the O_DIRECT option for uncached reads. 'raw devices' are not needed on newer kernels. For older kernels see below.

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First you copy as much data as possible, without retrying or splitting sectors:

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<blockquote>

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ddrescue --no-split /dev/hda1 imagefile logfile

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</blockquote>

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Now let it retry previous errors 3 times, using uncached reads:

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<blockquote>

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ddrescue --direct --max-retries=3 /dev/hda1 imagefile logfile

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</blockquote>

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If that fails you can try again but retrimmed, so it tries to reread full sectors:

You can now use ddrescue (or normal dd) to copy the imagefile to a new partition on a new disk. Use the appropriate filesystem checkers (fsck, CHKDSK) to try to fix errors caused by the bad blocks. Be sure to keep the imagefile around. Just in case the filesystem is severely broken, and datacarving tools like testdisk need to to be used on the original image.

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=== Before linux kernel 2.6.3 / 2.4.x ===

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In 2.6.3 the 'raw device' has been marked obsolete. On later kernels ddrescue will use O_DIRECT on the input to do uncached reads.

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First you copy as much data as possible, without retrying or splitting sectors:

You can now use ddrescue (or normal dd) to copy the imagefile to a new partition on a new disk. Use the appropriate filesystem checkers (fsck, CHKDSK) to try to fix errors caused by the bad blocks. Be sure to keep the imagefile around. Just in case the filesystem is severely broken, and datacarving tools like testdisk need to to be used on the original image.

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At the end you may want to unbind the raw device:

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<blockquote>

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raw /dev/raw/raw1 0 0

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

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Example 1: Rescue an ext2 partition in /dev/hda2 to /dev/hdb2

Example 1: Rescue an ext2 partition in /dev/hda2 to /dev/hdb2

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'''Please Note:''' This will overwrite ALL data on the partition you are copying to. If you do not want to do that, rather create an image of the partition to be rescued.

<blockquote>

<blockquote>

ddrescue -r3 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdb2 logfile<br>

ddrescue -r3 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdb2 logfile<br>

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write cdimage to a blank CD-ROM

write cdimage to a blank CD-ROM

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== Notes ==

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As of release 1.4-rc1, it can be compiled directly in [[Cygwin]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_box Out of the Box]. This makes it usable natively on [[Windows]] systems.

As of release 1.4-rc1, it can be compiled directly in [[Cygwin]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_box Out of the Box]. Precompiled packages are available in the [http://cygwin.com/packages/ Cygwin distribution]. This makes it usable natively on [[Windows]] systems.

== See also ==

== See also ==

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* [[dd_rescue]]

* [[dd_rescue]]

* [[sdd]]

* [[sdd]]

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== Other Resources ==

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[http://pfuender.net/?p=80| Useful code-snippets for DDrescue]

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[http://www.myfixlog.com/fix.php?fid=21| Tutorial for beginners that guides through the process of imaging a hard drive with DDrescue and mounting it in Windows, using free software.]

Latest revision as of 12:03, 9 January 2011

ddrescue is a raw disk imaging tool that "copies data from one file or block device to another, trying hard to rescue data in case of read errors." The application is developed as part of the GNU project and has written with UNIX/Linux in mind.

ddrescue and dd_rescue are completely different programs which share no development between them. The two projects are not related in any way except that they both attempt to enhance the standard dd tool and coincidentally chose similar names for their new programs.

From the ddrescue info pages:

GNU ddrescue is a data recovery tool. It copies data from one file or block device (hard disc, cdrom, etc) to another, trying hard to rescue data in case of read errors.

Ddrescue does not truncate the output file if not asked to. So, every time you run it on the same output file, it tries to fill in the gaps.

The basic operation of ddrescue is fully automatic. That is, you don't have to wait for an error, stop the program, read the log, run it in reverse mode, etc.

If you use the logfile feature of ddrescue, the data is rescued very efficiently (only the needed blocks are read). Also you can interrupt the rescue at any time and resume it later at the same point.

Automatic merging of backups: If you have two or more damaged copies of a file, cdrom, etc, and run ddrescue on all of them, one at a time, with the same output file, you will probably obtain a complete and error-free file. This is so because the probability of having damaged areas at the same places on different input files is very low. Using
the logfile, only the needed blocks are read from the second and successive copies.

You can now use ddrescue (or normal dd) to copy the imagefile to a new partition on a new disk. Use the appropriate filesystem checkers (fsck, CHKDSK) to try to fix errors caused by the bad blocks. Be sure to keep the imagefile around. Just in case the filesystem is severely broken, and datacarving tools like testdisk need to to be used on the original image.

Before linux kernel 2.6.3 / 2.4.x

In 2.6.3 the 'raw device' has been marked obsolete. On later kernels ddrescue will use O_DIRECT on the input to do uncached reads.

First you copy as much data as possible, without retrying or splitting sectors:

You can now use ddrescue (or normal dd) to copy the imagefile to a new partition on a new disk. Use the appropriate filesystem checkers (fsck, CHKDSK) to try to fix errors caused by the bad blocks. Be sure to keep the imagefile around. Just in case the filesystem is severely broken, and datacarving tools like testdisk need to to be used on the original image.

At the end you may want to unbind the raw device:

raw /dev/raw/raw1 0 0

Examples

These two examples are taken directly from the ddrescue info pages.

Example 1: Rescue an ext2 partition in /dev/hda2 to /dev/hdb2

Please Note: This will overwrite ALL data on the partition you are copying to. If you do not want to do that, rather create an image of the partition to be rescued.